Kindling

I had dinner with Wyatt and David last night.

One of the gifts Wyatt's given me is that I've finally accepted that I have an uncanny ability to recognize gems in the rough no matter what disguise they come in. And I am a magnet for creatives that are on cusp of a breakthrough.

Someone else might perceive a single mom struggling to make ends meet, or a stranded musician down on his luck standing in front of them.

I'm not deceived by the cover of matchbooks, though.

Mostly though, these artists aren't being looked down upon. They're invisible to everyone else flocking to see the sold-out Monet exhibit. Who'd recognize the next living breathing Picasso or Michelangelo in our midst?

What if God was one of us
Just a slob like one of us 
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

- Joan Osborne, from lyrics to "What if God Was One of Us"

I decided to ask a friend whose net worth was many times over mine for money mindset advice recently because I realized that in order to step up to the next level and truly be of service, I need to get over any money hangups I have.

I wrote:

“I don't seem to have trouble being an agent/middleperson for large amounts of money, for instance I can sell other people's high-end artwork, other people's six-figure enterprise software, etc. I'm great at sales, or as a agent...for EVERYONE ELSE. But when it's 'mine', then I'm altogether demure (read: scared!) and give it away for peanuts.”

My friend writes:

"So less of a money coaching question than a career coaching question but…why fight this? Why not try and set yourself up as an agent of some sort?

...I can imagine you being “wholeheartedly engaged and committed to” selling incredible art in a gallery."

Friend nailed it. And I saw a huge part of my past reluctance to be an agent for artists is that I do not want to rep everyone.

I believe there are two kind of artists (including designers, creators, entrepreneurs) in the world: those that act from shared interests, and those that will.

I want to work with 'We' artists. Their head and heart are already in the right place going in. Catapulting 'We' artists ripples out my investment in them so much further: my anonymous friend helps me, I help Wyatt, and Wyatt helps others as he's done in the past (his nonprofit offered fundraising services for other nonprofits through concerts and performances; he also helped at-risk youth at a computer lab), and so on. Well, it's even more expansive in effects as it's never ever a one-way-street.

I knew Wyatt was the real deal when he texted me the day after we first met: would u like to coffee call. I dial his number:

"Wyatt, I can't. I live too far away and I don't have enough money for coffee right now. "

"No worries. I'll pay for the coffee. You've been the one bright spot in my life in a long while. You don't treat me like a zoo animal."

"That's sweet of you. Honestly I, uhhh, don't have enough for bus fare to get there."

That was last Friday. I get on a bus yesterday to Palo Alto. "Ride's free today," the bus driver notions to me with his bowed head pointing to the broken meter's black overcoat.

“To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle. Perhaps the wilderness we fear is the pause within our own heartbeats, the silent space that says we live only by grace. Wilderness lives by this same grace.” -Terry Tempest Williams (when I was living in Utah, I adored her writing & Ellen Meloy & Edward Abbey & Mary Austin)

"Just now as I was expecting you," Wyatt is speaking as he alights from the curb across from the movie-house-transformed-to-Borders and he collects his messenger bag and puts away the guitar, "you won't believe the blessing I just had. It's going to get me to San Diego. I'm singing my new song, and a guy stops asking if I'm a Stanford student...he ends up dropping me a fifty."

Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

- W.H. Auden, from "September 1, 1939"

One day when I'm not so deeply touched to the point of tears, I'll share more about last night. It brought to mind one of my favorite blog posts that my good friend David's written over at his Exquisite Safari's blog.

And so it should go without saying I'll be rep'ing artists that move from the very same inner motivation as the traveller in this parable. Yes, some of them will be on the verge of awakening, some of them practically translucent. Mostly they'll be glowing inside, - maybe not quite yet radiating palpably - kindling for those ironic points of light, those affirming flames.

The Wisdom Of Sharing Stone Soup

There are many variations on the story of stone soup, but they all involve a traveler coming into a town. The inhabitants try to discourage the traveler from staying, fearing he wants them to give him food. They tell him in no uncertain terms that there's no food anywhere to be found. The traveler explains that he doesn't need any food and that, in fact, he was planning to make a soup to share with all of them. The villagers watch suspiciously as he builds a fire and fills a cauldron with water.

With great ceremony, he pulls a stone from a bag, dropping the stone into the pot of water. He sniffs the brew extravagantly and exclaims how delicious stone soup is. As the villagers begin to show interest, he mentions how good the soup would be with just a little cabbage in it. A villager brings out a cabbage to share. This episode repeats itself until the soup has cabbage, carrots, onions, and beets-indeed, a substantial soup that feeds everyone in the village.

This story addresses the human tendency to hoard in times of deprivation. When resources are scarce, we pull back and put all of our energy into self-preservation. We isolate ourselves and shut out others. As the story of stone soup reveals, in doing so, we often deprive ourselves and everyone else of a feast.

This metaphor plays out beyond the realm of food. We hoard ideas, love, and energy, thinking we will be richer if we keep to them to ourselves, when in truth we make the world, and ourselves, poorer whenever we greedily stockpile our reserves. The traveler was able to see that the villagers were holding back, and he had the genius to draw them out and inspire them to give, thus creating a spread that none of them could have created alone.

Are you like one of the villagers, holding back? If you come forward and share your gifts, you will inspire others to do the same. The reward is a banquet that can nourish many. - by David Chamberlain, "The Wisdom Of Sharing Stone Soup", Exquisite Safaris

p.s. Thanks Wyatt, David, Bruce, and my dear anonymous soul-friend. (You all know why.)

images Flickr photo by student of theology

Comments

[Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide]

Evelyn-

Welcome to the jungle...

There is a growing phenomenon happening throughout the world, a gentle but profound revolution in human consciousness. It is something that has been experienced directly by millions of everyday people from all walks of life and the numbers continue to multiply exponentially. The breakthroughs they have experienced are startlingly similar and are marked by a new sense of well-being, increased joy in life, diminished fear, and a natural impulse to serve and contribute to the world in a real way.

-David

[paul erne]

Whoever, whereever,

Through the trials and difficulties of the past few months this gateway to the world of the positive, creative, cooperative future has been one of the sustaining factors in my life.

Thank you, Paul, loving jaguar.

[Gaelyn Larrick]

I stumbled upon your blog and what a pure delight it is! Jean Houston speaks of "Social Artists are leaders in many fields who bring the same order of passion and skill that an artist brings to his or her art form, to the canvas of our social reality. It is within the depth work of Social Artistry that we can access the inner capacities to align ourselves with the earth's higher purpose." You, in your precise observations that are made available to everyone on line, are a social artist.

You have made an instant fan of me. I am a visual artist, and over the last three years have been in free fall, including the loss of our home and bankruptcy. I have had to face my worst fears and learn about surrender in every moment, so I'm deeply grateful for all that has transpired. It has transformed me in ways I would never have imagined if life hadn't lived me in this way.

I am currently trusting that my art will support me. My intention and my joy is to create artwork that reminds us of our deepest wisdom and the truth of who we really are. In these challenging times, it is helpful to surround ourselves with images, words, icons and symbols that call us to our deepest knowing and remind us of our most profound truth.

Thank you for your sharing. You are an inspiration.

Gaelyn Larrick

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

This is a particularly special post for me that you commented on, although no longer "new" it is ever fresh in my mind. Wyatt changed my life, whether he truly knows it or not (we still keep in touch.)

Free fall. Hmmmm, yes I know too. Rug after rug being pulled out under one. No center. Until I cried uncle, I was already knew it all and it was just a matter of applying that knowledge. I still resist, and take the reins much too often away from grace, but I am so thankful for the wakeup calls I got that shattered everything I thought I knew, and eventually gave me willingness to be shown another way, another wisdom (prajna), shown who we are/I am. I was playing with word "surrender" today, first thing that popped up was "sure render" - a purer, unveiled rendering. Anyhow, I love your work - I just had been visiting the PaPaYa! card site and thinking of "divine" cards, and then to find yours, whoa.

I'm really touched that you understand what I'm doing and what I'm about, not too many people do, which gets lonely at times strangely enough. I'm not sure that I can categorize it many other ways than social art. Not so much an activist though it may appear that way outwardly.

Thank you so much. We vitally need more full-time artists. So much more to say, but consider getting the book, "The Gift"...hunch, that you might be interested in the art currency project I'm working on. It's a way that art can support artists and those that are living "one one ours" life rather than "me my mine". I've thought it through in a local context (like local currencies), but I'm awaiting inspiration on how it could spread further than one can walk. Namaste. In Lak'ech Ala K'in.

[Evelyn Rodriguez]

I forgot to mention two things. One, this is follow-up post to Kindling: http://evelynrodriguez.typepad.com/crossroads_dispatches/2006/12/a_candle_and_a_.html

Two, the card (actually a journal) that caught my eye at PaPaYa's site said: "Sometimes your only available transportation is a leap of faith." - Margaret Shepherd